43 replies to this topic

[Ernteameise]

First of all-

This post will be VERY dramatic and traumatic, so here comes a TRIGGERWARNING.

Death and suffering ahead, if you do not want to see dead ants, look away. 

You have been warned.

 

I had an empty XL Mini Hearth on my shelf (I have moved the small Lasius colony into a bifurcated mini-hearth, because they still have to do a lot of growing) so I thought I could add another small Camponotus species.

I decided on another Southern European Camponotus that only forms small colonies of 100-200 workers.

The species is Camponotus lateralis.

These ants are arboreal and come from Croatia.

 

And if you look at them and think "Hey, these look like Crematogaster scutellaris", well, you are right! These ants live in a parabiosis with Crematogaster scutellaris, they mimic them and live together on the same tree and follow the same trails and use the same foraging sites.

I thought this was fascinating, and I hope that maybe in future, I can make more space here for a larger terrarium where I could maybe keep both species together!

However, right now, I am a bit intimidated by the fast growth and large colonies of Crematogaster.

But Camponotus lateralis, they fit the bill perfectly with their small colony size and they are very pretty with their red heads and shiny bottoms. Very cute ants indeed.

 

Anyways, I ordered a colony online. Colony size around 50 ants with brood.

Fast delivery- they sent the parcel yesterday and it arrived today at noon. I was home, so got them as soon as they arrived.

Sadly, it was a bit of a fiasco.

I really wondered why they sent me a large parcel, with just one colony of ants.

I think that was part of the problem.

They had the test tube wrapped in lots of bubble wrap, but it still must have gotten lose and I can only assume that the ants were shaken quite a bit and completely stressed out.

When I removed the bubble wrap, and saw the colony, I was shocked.

They looked very sad, and I immediately saw many dead ants.

 

 

When I opened the stopper, I immediately realized the problem.

There was a very strong smell of formic acid, and tears shot into my eyes.

It was BAD.

So the ants stressed out and gassed themselves.

Since my main experience is with Myrmecines, I have no idea if this is a general problem with Formicines and if this happens very often.

 

What did I do?

I immediately got the poor ants out of their gas chamber and put them into the outworld of the XL mini hearth.

HALF of the colony was dead or had severe seizures and could not move anymore.

I was shocked and sad about this.

I left the lid of the mini hearth (it took 1 hour for the smell of formic acid to dissipate).

I also removed any dead ants and the suffering ants with seizures, too.

 

 

 

In all that mess, where was the queen?

 

At least I got lucky there, the queen was alive, she was shielded by her bodyguards and they took good care of her and took her to safety downstairs pretty quickly.

 

 

 

What a relief!

So while half of the colony had died during transport, at least the queen was save and we could rebuild!

 

The ants moved into the XL mini hearth quickly. It has a red cover, so they can feel dark and save and cozy in there and calm down and recover from the ordeal.

 

 

 

Here you can see that they are mimics of Crematogaster scutellaris:

 

 

 

After 1,5 hours, the ants showed interest in food again, and they went foraging and drank Sunburst nectar and checked out their dead cricket:

 

 

 

These are very pretty ants and they also look quite cute:

 

 

 

 

Now I hope these girls recover.

 

I already contacted the trader and told him about this drama.

Hopefully, they can improve the situation for the next client!

Just imagine this drama when the recipient is a child, and half of the ants are dead.

 

To everyone who is trading with ants and who has sent Formicines around by courier.

What are your experiences?

Has something like that happened to you before?

What do you do to try and prevent this?

Is this a common thing to happen?

 

And keep your fingers crossed for this colony.

I will report in future on how they are doing.

Edited by Ernteameise, May 17 2024 - 8:14 AM.

[Ernteameise]

First of all, relief!

The colony made it through the night, everyone is still alive, and the queen is also well. (they are sitting at the back because that is where the heat cable is)

Sadly, it looks as if the majority of the brood has not made it and they have to start over laying eggs.

 

 

 

 

And then, I have to correct myself.

Correction!

I did read up in "The Ants" (the ant bible) last night and they consider Camponotus lateralis indeed as parabiotic and parasitic towards Crematogaster scutellaris. The Camponotus get all the perks and eat from the food sources discovered by the Crematogaster and are basically EXACTLY what the word "parasite" means in greek: "Sitting next to you, eating your stuff". Often, the Crematogaster get fed up with this and attack and chase the Camponotus away.

Very exciting.

I am a trained veterinary parasitologist, so it is quite interesting to finally own and keep a parasite on purpose. I should really think about creating a nice big natural setup with both Crematogaster and these Camponotus, but right now, I think that is still a bit too advanced for me. Plus, these Camponotus are a facultative parasite, meaning they can be parasitic, but do not rely on it. So they can live on their own.

Edited by Ernteameise, May 18 2024 - 1:34 AM.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

I love the coloration on the workers! Sorry to hear they had such a bumpy ride.

[Ernteameise]

I also shared these pictures in my ant group on Facebook, and another trader said, that he thinks, that the feeder roach that was sent in the tube with the colony was the culprit.

Not sure if that is true or not, but maybe being shaken around made the ants think they were attacked by that roach and that caused the formic acid built-up.

True or not, I have also shared this with the seller who sold these to me and he said he will avoid feeder insects in the tube in the future.

 

Anyways, some good news!!

This afternoon, the queen laid another batch of eggs!

So we have officially new eggs now!

I take this as a good sign.

 

 

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Great coloration on the head, hope they bounce back!

[The_Gaming-gate]

Never thought I'd see 'Crematogasters' with media/majors.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, May 18 2024 - 9:49 AM.

[ANTdrew]

I wonder if they mimic the adorable butt waggle of Crematogasters?

[Ernteameise]

I wonder if they mimic the adorable butt waggle of Crematogasters?

They do not flip their gasters up if that is what you mean?

But when I shine my red light in, they do a little body shake, which kind of looks funny, none of my other ants do it.

[ANTdrew]

I wonder if they mimic the adorable butt waggle of Crematogasters?

They do not flip their gasters up if that is what you mean?
But when I shine my red light in, they do a little body shake, which kind of looks funny, none of my other ants do it.

My Crematogaster do an adorable waggle of their gaster up and down. It reminds me of a dog wagging its tail when its happy, except it’s up and down.

[Mushu]

Yes, my first thought is why is there a full roach in there and that they sprayed formic acid on it. Awesome colony. 

[100lols]

Awesome new colony!! Glad you’re excited about them being a parasitic variety. They’re beautiful!

[Ernteameise]

The colony has settled down above the water tower in the mini-hearth.

They also keep their brood and the egg pile right in the middle of the colony.

 

 

 

Sadly, after the ordeal they went through, they are very shy and I hardly ever see any foragers out.

I hope this improves when they have settled down, have more new brood (after they lost so many) and have adapted to their new home.

[Ernteameise]

Awesome new colony!! Glad you’re excited about them being a parasitic variety. They’re beautiful!

It is pretty fascinating, isn't it?

When I am a bit more advanced, and the colony has grown, keeping them together with Crematogaster scutellaris in a large natural setup (maybe with a simulated tree home in the middle) might definitely be an advanced goal.

But I think that might take a lot of space and I am definitely not there yet with my basic skills at the moment.

[ANTdrew]

Keeping Crematogaster is no joke.

[Ernteameise]

Keeping Crematogaster is no joke.

So I have seen in the journals here

[Ernteameise]

Ants becoming bolder-

coming out in groups now to forage (also, their larvae might have hatched and the colony is hungry)

 

 

The minors look very similar to the Crematogaster they mimic- even down to the pointed gaster.

[ANTdrew]

But do they chew through rubber plugs in less than a month like this?

[Ernteameise]

But do they chew through rubber plugs in less than a month like this?

None of my ants, including the Messor who are notorious for chewing through anything, has so far touched the plastic tubing, the plugs or the nest-mates.

Knock on wood.

But the Camponotus are not known for being escape artists, contrary to the Crematogaster, which come with a warning label on every responsible German ant shop.

"Escape artists! Need good escape prevention! Will be especially voracious when starved or when just low on food."

The Camponotus just feed up their repletes and will subsist of the stored food, plus, they have only small colonies, as opposed to the Crematigaster.

[Ernteameise]

Good news-

they have now a small pile of tiny larvae (the first egg pile has hatched!) plus a new small egg pile.

No pictures, since I did not want to scare them again.

But it looks as if things are looking up!

[AsdinAnts]

that's amazing news!
This colony is still going strong, even after getting so traumatized.